In March, EMVCo Advisors and industry partners from around the globe gathered in Melbourne, Australia, to actively shape EMVCo’s strategic direction by sharing their insights on the technologies and trends influencing the future of payments and commerce.
In this post, Oliver Manahan, Director of Engagement and Operations at EMVCo, explores the key takeaways and examines the fundamental importance of industry collaboration.
Learning from the Australian payments industry
In today’s connected global economy, local and regional trends often indicate broader shifts. To explore potential learnings for all stakeholders, EMVCo Advisors Glenn Cubitt, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, and Andy White, Australian Payments Network, discussed the role that EMV® technologies are playing in enabling continued innovation across the Australian payments industry.
It is important to recognise that Australians were among the earliest adopters of EMV Contactless payments, with the first deployments dating back to 2006. Contactless has since reached near ubiquity and now accounts for around 95% of all in-store card-based transactions.[1]
Such strong consumer adoption has had a profound impact on the Australian payments landscape. Corresponding cash usage has declined, while remote payments have also seen a significant rise in recent years (accelerated by the pandemic).
Today, a key emerging trend is the rapidly increasing uptake of digital wallets for in-store payments. Given the pace of adoption by customers of all ages – not just younger generations – digital wallets are anticipated to soon surpass physical card usage.[2]
Surging digital wallet adoption presents opportunities for new in-store, remote and omnichannel commerce experiences and use-cases. For example, EMV Click to Pay can support merchants in simplifying online checkout and making it more consistent, convenient and secure for their customers. Wireless technologies such as ultra-wideband (UWB) also have the potential to enable innovative in-store payment experiences, as the consumer does not have to be right next to the terminal to pay.
But as consumer behaviours continue to evolve, ongoing work to promote robust security – such as the adoption of quantum resistant algorithms – must remain a priority to address increasingly sophisticated financial criminals.
Collaborating with the merchant community to put the customer first
While there is much to glean from the Australian payments experience, a key aspect has been how industry stakeholders have harnessed emerging technologies to support evolving preferences – creating better outcomes for consumers.
John Drechny, Merchant Advisory Group, explained why merchant engagement is critical to achieving this ‘customer centricity’ in payments innovation, balancing consumer requirements with merchant considerations.
Initiatives like the EMV Contactless Kernel Specification and the EMV Click to Pay Customer Experience (CX) Guidelines demonstrate this collaboration in action, and EMVCo remains fully committed to increasing merchant engagement.
Towards secure and seamless open payments for electric vehicle (EV) charging
EMVCo’s Electric Vehicle Open Payments (EVOP) initiative is another example of the fundamental role that industry collaboration is playing in promoting enhanced payments experiences.
A common challenge facing many EV drivers is the requirement to sign-up for different proprietary applications or memberships to pay at charge points, which can lead to an inconvenient and inconsistent experience. This contributes to the ‘range anxiety’ felt by many current or prospective EV drivers, and is particularly pertinent for those who are less familiar and confident with digital products and services.
Consequently, enabling simple, safe and familiar payments across multiple EV models and charge points can offer significant benefits for participants across the EV ecosystem.
François Mezzina, TotalEnergies provided further insight into the opportunities and challenges by exploring the current state of the EV charging landscape, and the growing need for interoperability across different EV charging networks. Linda Toth, Conexxus, also shared learnings and perspectives from the ongoing rollout of EV infrastructure in the United States.
The extensive discussion during the meeting indicates the significant industry interest in this topic. To facilitate further engagement, EMVCo is holding an EVOP Special Interest Meeting (SIM) on 20 June in Copenhagen, Denmark. Open to EMVCo Associates and EMVCo Subscribers from relevant industry verticals, the session provides an opportunity to explore key requirements and considerations in detail.
Shaping global specifications
Taken together, the discussions in Melbourne reiterated the importance of collaboration to help shape the creation and evolution of globally adopted specifications. Other insights from EMVCo Advisors and industry partners included Pierre Chassigneux, Cartes Bancaires, exploring the critical importance of resilience and service availability as the payments acceptance ecosystem advances. Andrew Jamieson, PCI SSC, also restated the value of its collaboration with EMVCo on payment security and beyond.
More broadly, Kirsi Klepp, Finance Finland and the European Payments Council, highlighted how proactive engagement truly maximises the value of participation. As we look ahead to EMVCo’s meeting schedule for the remainder of the year, we actively encourage relevant proposals from EMVCo Advisors, Associates and industry partners to share their knowledge and expertise.
[1] Reserve Bank of Australia, The Evolution of Consumer Payments in Australia: Results from the 2022 Consumer Payments Survey, November 2023
[2] Reserve Bank of Australia, The Evolution of Consumer Payments in Australia: Results from the 2022 Consumer Payments Survey, November 2023
by Oliver Manahan